I recently went to a wedding, met up with the guys from the other side of the family, some great canadian people. Really sincere, good people, but not necessarily believers in God. Now what really depressed me was that, according to Catholic Canon Law, the chances of those people attaining salvation is very slim, they most probably believe in sex before marriage, contraception, etc… Now I know its weird (I only knew these people for a day), but, its very depressing that these people will burn in hell for eternity.

One of the ladies really touched my heart. Not in a relationship kind of way, but just her genuine kindness and true charity, but she has been brought up in a way that she has been decieved by Satan, believing all the things that modern society promotes, self worship, posessing “things” etc… , so for all purposes a lovely person but still not worthy of Christ, (Im not presuming, i could be wrong, but thats the impression I got).

Am i right to think that, basically, she is going to burn in hell forever for following what she has been brought up to believe. I know that we are the one True Church, but why has God allowed these people to be born if only to be put in a society where it is very hard to find Truth.

God, its depressing.

All i can do is pray, but i cant pray for the whole world (well, i can, but you know, not individually), and the whole world is full of people who are nice people but will burn forever.

I really cried about it last night.

Id rather be destroyed at the end of this life, than live for eternity without the people that are close to me in this life.

Is heaven a false happiness? Blinded by God and his beauty we forget about this life. VERY depressing to me.

Am i right to think that, basically, she is going to burn in hell forever for following what she has been brought up to believe. I know that we are the one True Church, but why has God allowed these people to be born if only to be put in a society where it is very hard to find Truth.

The Church teaches that people are not held accountable for that which they could not know. Just because someone wasn’t raised with the knowledge of God’s desires doesn’t mean that they aren’t responding to the natural pull of God in their hearts and minds to the best of their ability.

We are not to pressume the salvation, nor the damnation, of the living. I hope you are able to overcome your depression on this matter. Just know that your worries don’t reflect Catholic teaching on the issue.

:blessyou:

EDIT: Here is an article by Jimmy Akin addressing this topic that I think you will find very helpful.

[quote=Magicsilence]I recently went to a wedding, met up with the guys from the other side of the family, some great canadian people. Really sincere, good people, but not necessarily believers in God. Now what really depressed me was that, according to Catholic Canon Law, the chances of those people attaining salvation is very slim, they most probably believe in sex before marriage, contraception, etc… Now I know its weird (I only knew these people for a day), but, its very depressing that these people will burn in hell for eternity.

One of the ladies really touched my heart. Not in a relationship kind of way, but just her genuine kindness and true charity, but she has been brought up in a way that she has been decieved by Satan, believing all the things that modern society promotes, self worship, posessing “things” etc… , so for all purposes a lovely person but still not worthy of Christ, (Im not presuming, i could be wrong, but thats the impression I got).

Am i right to think that, basically, she is going to burn in hell forever for following what she has been brought up to believe. I know that we are the one True Church, but why has God allowed these people to be born if only to be put in a society where it is very hard to find Truth.

God, its depressing.

All i can do is pray, but i cant pray for the whole world (well, i can, but you know, not individually), and the whole world is full of people who are nice people but will burn forever.

I really cried about it last night.

Id rather be destroyed at the end of this life, than live for eternity without the people that are close to me in this life.

Is heaven a false happiness? Blinded by God and his beauty we forget about this life. VERY depressing to me.
[/quote]

Hi, Magicsilence.

God will not damn inappropriately.

Inside, each of us has the potential, and the freedom, to cast aside grace, and become raging, screaming, Hell-bent, preeminently auto-centric anti-God animals. Those who are damned adopted and “made love to” this un-graced state of being in their lives, before death. In Hell, they won’t be “naive innocents.” They’ll become full-fledged raging, screaming, Hell-bent, preeminently auto-centric anti-God animals. They will become fully what they consciously opted to be partially on Earth, in this life.

In the afterlife, in the General Judgment, this will be made clear to you, and like God you will be saddened in one way, by their rejection of participation in God through grace, but cheered by the exercise of God’s nasty condemnation to Hell in another way.

Yeah, there is such a thing as invincible ignorance. Do not despair for your friends. It is a sin to despair of God’s mercy, just as it is to presume of it. We will all pray for your friends, as should you. Please don’t be depressed. Try reading the booklet about St. Faustina and the Divine Mercy chaplet. It really focuses on God’s loving aspects and will console you.

First, despair is a sin. Sadness is a tool of the enemy. As Christians we are to exude joy at all times(even in suffering and pain). That’s how the early Christians converted pagan Rome. Today’s atheist can be tomorrow’s saint. The game is not over yet.

Everyday is a fresh chance to grow in virtue. They have this chance. Your opportunity for authentic friendship and apostolate has been revealed to you. Armed with absolute trust in Divine Mercy and Providence, contribute what you can (after much prayer and sacrifice) to their education of the things of God.

This is the apostolic mission of the church and each Christian. To be a light to the world. You are now part of this light, so humbly burn as pure and as bright as you can.

I know that i should show them by example. BUT, they live in montreal, im in the U.K, and im probably not going to see them again for at least a few years, we are very distant relatives now through the marriage.

Plus i cant be a beacon of light for the whole world, can I? Even, JPII was just regarded as a good guy by most non-catholics, right?
And there are millions of other people in the same position as these guys im talking about.

It just seems so false. Be a good catholic, pray a lot for others, and then get to heaven, be BLINDED by Gods amazingness, and not know if your friends from this life have made it, for that matter, it wouldnt matter anyway, because we wont know who is there, otherwise we would know who wasnt there and get depressed.

There’s only ONE who knows the whole truth because HE is the truth HIMSELF, we all even though working hard to attain the truth can only grasp parts of it while on this earth. Remember saint Paul saying: now we see as in a mirror but when we are resurrected we will see things as they truly are. ??? also CHRIST said when confronted by his own disciples about whom will be saved: what is impossible for man is possible for GOD. Also referring to people who were not following him at the time but were keeping GOD’s law and good deeds: “there are several rooms in my kingdom”. OR “He who is not with us is against us.” God’s ways are really misterious but rest assured that out of sin he will always bring out a marvel. David, Moses, and many others through the scriptures are good examples. Pray, confort and guide others with our christian behavior through God is the only thing we can do.

quote: AquinasXVI
First, despair is a sin. Sadness is a tool of the enemy. As Christians we are to exude joy at all times(even in suffering and pain).

Sadness can also be the result of clinical depression,
a biological illness. *
Viewed with the eyes of faith, this type of suffering can
be redemptive.

This past summer, I lost my sister in law [age 59].
She was my dear friend.
After the wake, so to speak, I went to the nursing
home to visit my mother, who is in the outer edges
of advanced Altzheimer’s.

I don’t know how much joy I was exuding [what with
the grief], and at first I was very angry at God…but
I got thru it, with His grace.

I wanted to respond to what you said, to make clear
that in some cases, sadness in not a “tool of the enemy”,
but a medical condition…clinical depression.

Sadness is a perfectly natural response to loss.
God gave us emotions, for a very good reason…
to express loss, to grieve.

It is when this grief and sadness are prolonged, that
a physician might be consulted, to determine if this
is the result of a medical condition…and not the
result of the “tool[s] of the enemy.”

Christ is the source of our joy…He is also the
Divine Physician, who often works through
our local physicians.

I found it helps to remember that God is our Father.
He loves each of us dearly, and wills our salvation.
[He probably “worries” more about people who
don’t know Him than we do! :)]

He will move heaven and earth, if necessary, to
reach out to and call souls to Him…in ways that
we may never see and understand.

I figure that if there is a situation to worry about,
and I can’t do anything “practical” about it…
[that is, I can’t be there to “help”] then I figure
that God wants me to offer prayer, and leaveHim to do the “worrying.”

That’s the wonderful thing about a Father. He’s
up nights, writing out the bills, checking on the
heating system, on a cold winter’s night, while
the “children” are sound asleep, *relying *on Him,
to take care of them all. [After they’ve said their
night time prayers…including those for the
brothers and sisters who aren’t “home” that night.]
The Father is watching out for them, too.

That’s the way I see it anyway. The situation you
describe can be viewed as a two-fold gift:

-you’re aware that you need to pray, for those
you’re concerned about
-it’s an opportunity to demonstrate trust in the Father

It just seems so false. Be a good catholic, pray a lot for others, and then get to heaven, be BLINDED by Gods amazingness, and not know if your friends from this life have made it, for that matter, it wouldnt matter anyway, because we wont know who is there, otherwise we would know who wasnt there and get depressed.

First, I think the whole motivation of worrying about heaven and hell is overrated. I think it pays to focus on transforming into Christ the best way you know how.

You saw Christ in your friends, through their true charity. Christ said they who are not against us are for us.

When my mother was young, they taught her in no uncertain terms the heresy that was prevelant at the time, that non-Catholics will go to hell because they are all deceived. She was very depressed over it, always thinking her friends were destined for hell, and now she has less respect for the Church for bringing her up under that deception. Nobody has “officially” told her that was wrong. If she hadn’t quit paying attention to what she was taught by priests and nuns, she would still be of this deception but that opens her up for other problems.

Magicsilence,
God has touched your heart to care for the salvation of these people. Do not let Satan deceive you into dispair, or worse, to think it doesn’t matter what you do, or what they/she does. Pray for them daily; and even better, fast and perform acts of mortification united with prayer. That is a real and concrete thing that has real effect.
While there is invincible ignorance, in a modern country, one that has a Christian heritage, it is hard to believe that some one has never heard of Jesus or of the Bible. They have many opportunities to accept God’s message, but Satan deceives them. All the more reason to pray and fast for their sakes.
And while the Church does teach that those that are not in the Church can be saved, She also teaches that it is much more difficult to achieve that salvation outside the Church. People are much more likely to fall into sin without the aid of the sacraments and to believe error without the guidance of the Magisterium.

A friend of mine at work recently went to Italy with another group and was amazed that they were allowed to go to the general audience with the Pope. She said “none of us were Catholic, but they let us in, anyway.”

I told her, “we’re all Catholic…some of us just don’t realize it yet.”

God has His own schedule for us to come to that realization. Your friends will have an opportunity to say yes to the good news…but it may not be until they stand before our Lord. Pray for their conversion. Show them the joy you find in your faith. Pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for them. Receive communion for them at mass. Most of all, love them. We have a wonderfully merciful God who wants all of His children with Him. Rejoice in that. Don’t despair. Trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to change hearts.